Way of The Chameleon
by halo3vsloz
Summary: The Chameleons want a new summoner, and they have their eyes on a certain blonde. It's just such a shame that he's currently aligned with the toads, their enemies. But that certainly hasn't stopped them before...
1. Chapter 1: An encounter with a Reptilian

**Chapter 1**

"Find me a summoner Ao."

"Might I ask why, Shiromari-sama?" Ao, the small blue chameleon asked as he gazed at the Chameleon boss, Shiromari. The massive albino chameleon's giant red eyes gave a look of contempt as he chewed on some cockroaches.

"You shouldn't need to ask why! Why do you think Ao?!" Shiromari said with a grimace, "We are the laughingstock of the summoning world. The toads have Jiraiya, the Fourth Hokage, and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. The slugs have Tsunade. The snakes have Orochimaru. The list goes on and on, even the DAMN CLAMS ARE MOCKING US!" He roared out, Ao having to grip down on a nearby rock to keep from flying away. Shiromari huffed, taking a few deep breaths before calming down, his red eyes barely containing his bound fury.

"I'M SICK OF IT! Stuck imitating a castle for 50 YEARS, and returned only to find our rivals, the toads, making us look like a joke while they got famous summoner after summoner! I'm done! I am not going to suffer like this any longer. Which is why I'm picking you Ao. Find a summoner, a good one, and don't come back till you do." He said, the message of what would happen should he come back without a summoner clear in the boss summon's eyes. Ao gulped before with a quick "Hai, Shiromari-sama", he disappeared. Shiromari glanced at the far east, before smiling. If Ao did this right, the toads wouldn't be on top anymore and the chameleons would have their rightful place at the top.

The small blue chameleon left with a poof, having reverse summoned himself to the shinobi world while Shiromari munched on his snacks.

It had taken a few days, but Ao had finally found the perfect summoner for the chameleons. The blonde haired, blue eyed boy, could only be the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, and the most recent holder to the toad summoning contract. Normally Ao wouldn't even be considering this, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and if he had to poach a summoner from those damn toads then that was what he was going to do.

The kid, probably 13 or 14, was looking frustrated...and Ao had an idea of why.

"Dammit! Where is he? He promised to train me today!" Naruto shouted, before quieting down. He had gone on this training trip with Jiraiya a few weeks ago, trying to get stronger to keep his promise to Sakura and bring Sasuke back, yet all that had happened was Jiraiya getting drunk and going off with scantily clad women. He had practically begged the man the entire day yesterday, and the man had promised that he'd spend the day training him, and yet he was still of with his "contact".

"Probably sleeping with his "contact" right now." Naruto muttered to himself. This training trip was currently a disaster. Hell, the only training he had gotten was trying to control the kyuubi's chakra, and that turned out to be a total disaster, not that Naruto had wanted to use it in the first place. The further away he could stay from that monster's power, the better. Deep in his mind, he knew that he would have to use it someday, but if all he could do was use the kyuubi's chakra, then how could he ever be Hokage?

As Naruto grumbled to himself, Ao slipped further and further towards the boy, making sure to keep his movements slow. He wouldn't want the boy to flip out and accidently shove a kunai into his skull...unless of course, he failed. Having a kunai shoved into your skull was a quick death. Being Shiromari's lunch, burning in his stomach acids, was definitely NOT a good way to go. He finally got close enough, to were the boy could see him, as he stood on a branch, so close that even in his angered state, Naruto noticed the large blue chameleon.

"Hello! My name is Ao! What's yours?" Ao said, putting on a happy voice to help endear himself to the Jinchuuriki.

"Whoa, you must be a summon right?" Naruto asked, and Ao nods. "Cool! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the summoner of the toads." Naruto thought he saw a brief grimace appear across Ao's face, but when he blinked, it was gone. "And the next Hokage, dattebayo!" He said as Ao stared at the kid. "Or at least I will be once Jiraiya gets his wrinkly ass back here and actually trains me." He stated, a brief look of anger appearing across the kid's face. Ao smiled.

'Yes! A kid looking for power to become great. I can definitely work with this.' Ao thought as he continued his friendly act.

"Jiraiya, the previous summoner of the toads?" Ao asked, and Naruto nodded. Ao laughs mockingly. "Well what could you expect Naruto-san? The toads...they are, how should we say it...er, disgusting. They are just like their summoner, only knowing how to indulge in pleasures. But you and I, Naruto-san, we know what it's like to suffer and break without needing to lose ourselves in our passions. Don't we?" Ao asked and Naruto nodded.

"He's a big deal Ao-san, but...why won't he train me? We went on this training trip for that whole reason but all he's done is sleep with women and drink. I-I don't want to be the dead last loser anymore. I want to be someone that everyone will have to look at with respect." Naruto said, his eyes shining with unshed tears. With Kakashi being a failure as a teacher, Naruto thought that with training from Jiraiya, he could be an actual somebody. Not some no name orphan that the villagers hated, or the dead last, but the student of Jiraiya the sannin!

Only for Jiraiya to be another big disappointment in his life. Really why should he expect better?

"Oh Naruto-san, it's okay." He said, crawling over to the boy and hugging him with his tail. "I understand your pain. The chameleons, we're seen as weak, yet we have some of the best techniques for stealth around, but we still get mocked too." The chameleon stated, Naruto's eyes widening. "We understand what it's like to be laughed at and ridiculed." Ao said, Naruto not having noticed as Ao's expression went from happy to infuriated. Ao took a breath, before calming down.

"So why not give up the toad contract and join the chameleons Naruto-san?" Ao asked, with Naruto looking thoughtful. "We have many techniques that can help you become a great ninja. All you need to do is join us and get rid of the toads." Ao stated. "Shouldn't be too hard, Naruto-san." Ao said before coughing up the chameleon's summoning scroll. "All you need to do is bite your finger and sign it. We'll transport you back to our dwelling, The Kamareon Forest, and from there, we'll train you to the best of our abilities. What do you say, friend?" The chameleon asked as it looked at Naruto.

"I...I'd like that Ao-san...but i'd like to give Jiraiya another chance." Naruto said, not noticing as Ao's smile turned slightly shaky. "Maybe he just had something happen or got into a fight, but i'm going to give him one more shot. If he doesn't take this seriously by tomorrow, then i'll find some friends who do, right Ao-san?" He said, looking at Ao with a big smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Ao smiled back, but he is infuriated that the blonde rejected his offer, if only temporarily. But he's got a part to play and he can't lose Naruto now that he's got his attention.

"Sure Naruto-san. We would be happy to train you. I'll be back tomorrow. Oh, and before I forget, please do not tell Jiraiya about this. You see, the toads and us do not get along very well, and he may and try to attack me due to our kind being his enemies." Ao said, a frantic expression crossed his face while internally, he smiles as he watched the slight look of horror appear on Naruto's face.

"Ao-san, you got my word that I won't tell Jiraiya! I never go back on my word, that's my ninja way, dattebayo!" He said, raising his fist in the air.

"Thank you, Naruto-san. I must be off now. I'll see you tomorrow." Ao said as he walks away, his body changed to match the color of his environment.

'Hopefully that toad summoning buffoon keeps disappointing Naruto. If not, I've got some...other plans in mind.' Ao thought as he hides for the night.

He would have Naruto Uzumaki as a chameleon summoner, or die trying!

Ao returned the next day, spotting the child looking rather down.

"Alone again, Naruto-san?" Ao asked as he descends from a nearby tree.

"Yeah." Naruto said before sighing. "Meeting another contact." He said with disdain, "My ass. He's probably just meeting with another one of those...er, what did he call em'...escorts? Yeah, escorts. Though I don't understand why he calls them that, I mean they seem like the 'Night Ladies' from the red light district back home." Naruto stated Ao gets closer.

"Ah, breeding." Ao said, "Shame he let's it control him," The chameleon spoke with disdain, "If he were our summoner, he would have been kept to a higher standard." Ao said, conveniently forgetting to mention that their first summoner was a serial murderer, but then again, are shinobi any better? They are killers for hire after all. Ao shook his head as he continues on, clearing those thoughts from his mind. "Now have you chosen, Naruto-san?" Ao asked.

"Well...not really Ao-san. I'm friends with some of the toads and I don't want to break off that friendship just because Jiraiya wants to go and...'spread his seed', as he puts it." Naruto said, and Ao's expression darkens. "Besides, I wonder why can't I just have both? I've heard of people with two summoning contracts."

"Because we are not allies, Naruto-san." Ao said, "For instance, if you had the shrimp and the crab summoning contracts, you would be able to summon both because of their alliance. But us and the toad's...well, we do not forgive easily Naruto-san, nor do we forget. We have always been at odds with the toads, ALWAYS, Naruto-san. We've been at each other's throats for 200 years and our only allies, the Geckos, are simply too weak to actually help us in any way against the Toad, Slug, and Frog alliance. Just like you shinobi have your great ninja wars, so too do we summons have ours. It is why the dragons are extinct, and the foxes have been nearly eradicated, yet I hear there are still remnants far to the north in the summoning world, but I digress. We are ENEMIES, Naruto-san. Getting our kind to work together would be like getting Iwa and Konoha to get along, an impossible task." Ao stated, with Naruto's eyes widening as he listens.

"Wait...dragons are real?" Naruto asked, and Ao looked at him with an exasperated expression.

"Were real. They were destroyed by the Unicorns and the Bull summons, with the Vultures finishing off any survivors. Now please, focus on what i'm telling you Naruto-san. The toads don't respect us, we don't respect them. We hate each other immensely and their can be no peace between us. Now...would you like to sign our contract?" Ao asked.

"But I-" Naruto started to say before Ao cut him off.

"You said in our last conversation that you were going to be the next hokage, correct?" Ao sayid, with Naruto nodding. "How can you do so if you're being hindered by your teacher? And don't think that summoning frogs will help. They'd listen to Jiraiya over you and if he ordered them not to teach you, then they wouldn't." Ao said, a slight hint of desperation in his voice as he tried to convince Naruto to sign the contract.

"They wouldn't do that!" Naruto exclaimed, and Ao clutched his head in frustration.

"They would Naruto-san! He's been their summoner for DECADES, and you've only been their summoner for...what, a couple months? Plus, he's an adult, do you really think that they'll listen to you over him?" Ao asked and Naruto looked down. Ao moved closer until he settled onto Naruto's lap. "Trust me, Naruto-san, that the way towards being Hokage doesn't lie with the toads, but with us. We can help you with your goal, in fact, it'd be our honor. To have our summoner be a kage would bring us greater status among the summons and make us feared for our powers, for if you were to learn from us and become powerful enough to be a kage, then we must be powerful as well." Ao said and Naruto glanced at him.

"So i'd just be a status symbol for you?" Naruto asked, a slight bit of hurt ringing through his voice. Ao shook his head.

"No, Naruto-san." Ao said, "While it is true that you would show off our power, that would be merely a side effect of our deal. You see, as it stands, we're a joke. Think of us as a hidden village, Naruto-san, and now think of how a hidden village looks when no one takes them seriously. There borders would be attacked and their territory would be plundered with the enemy taking no care to even hide their efforts. That is the status we are in now, Naruto-san. Oh sure, it hasn't begun yet, but it will. It's already happening to the Salamanders, since with Hanzo dead and those fools making too many enemies to count, they're under assault by the Snakes who are resistant to their toxins. I do not want our race to be under the foot of those warted bastards, and if you were me, you would be doing the same. After all, if Konoha was being constantly attacked, wouldn't you rush to their defense and do anything to keep your precious people safe?" Ao asked, and Naruto nodded.

"Of course I would."

"Then you understand Naruto-san, that we need you. Won't you help us?"

"I'd like to Ao-san, but I can't. I'm friends with the toads and I...can you just give me a few days to think this over?" Naruto asked, and Ao nodded, shifting his colors to match his surroundings as he started to leave.

"Of course Naruto-san, but remember I will only be here for a few days at most. Here," Ao vomited up a small contract scroll. "This is a personal summoning I've attached to myself. Wipe your blood on it and I shall come. Farewell, for now Naruto-san." Ao said as he snuck away, his expression changed from kind, to one of pure frustration.

Jiraiya came back to their small camp later that night, completely drunk.

'More sober than usual.' Naruto thought as the man stumbles into their encampment. Naruto sighed as he helped the man to his sleeping bag, trying to help the drunk man was a challenge in itself.

"So howz yur day?" Jiraiya asked.

"It was great." Naruto lied, holding his tongue. He'd been keeping everything in check since he was little, no need to flip out now.

"Good, good. Tomorrow, we're gonna continue yur training with the kyuubi's chakra." He stated, and a look of fear passes across Naruto's face.

"T-that's okay pervy-sensei! I-isn't there something else we can work on?" Naruto asked, before he notices the Jiraiya had fallen asleep. Naruto had burst into a cold sweat as he slipped into his sleeping bag, eagerly hoping that Jiraiya was simply too drunk to recall what he said. He didn't want to go anywhere near that things chakra...


	2. Chapter 2: It all comes tumbling down

**AN: I am the same author on QQ that writes this fanfic. However, this will diverge far more from the current one that is ongoing. So please, enjoy. Both my new readers and my old readers.**

 **Chapter 2**

Naruto gazed down with empty eyes as he opened the summoning scroll and rubbed blood on it.

With a poof, Ao appeared, slightly disgruntled as he mumbled about dumb kids under his breath as he looked at Naruto. His eyes widened as he takes in the kid's appearance. His orange clothes were torn up, with some patches looking as if they had melted, while his entire body was covered in blood.

"Naruto-san...what happened?" Ao asked, staring at the blonde intently as the boy began to babble out what happened.

Flashback

"Oh c'mon Naruto! We've been through this before," Jiraiya stated, an exasperated expression on his face, "You're going to have to learn how to use it's chakra sometime."

"Please don't make me do this old man...I-I hate that thing!" Naruto said, pleading with Jiraiya. The older man sighed, rubbing his eyes as he looks at Naruto with a weary expression. He put his hand on the younger boys shoulder, to try to calm the boy down as Naruto looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack.

"Naruto, I know you don't like it. I know you want me to train you. But to go from a genin to capable of fightning an S-rank nin is...well, not impossible, but with how awful your taijutsu and chakra control is, it might as well be since we'll have to start with the ground up. I'm trying to help you master IT's chakra so you can survive and maybe even win your fights against the Akatsuki members. I promise, that once we have a good grasp on your control over it, I'll teach you some techniques. Alright?" Jiraiya said, smiling as he rubbed the top of Naruto's head with his knuckles, the blonde groaning as he escaped from the older man's grip.

"O-ok. But you promised, and i'll hold you to that!" He said, smiling at the older man. Jiraiya smiled back as Naruto begins to channel the Kyuubi's chakra, while a dark voice, caged inside Naruto's mind laughed as it pushed the bounds of the seal, channeling far more of its malicious chakra then it normally did for the boy. The Kyuubi was infuriated that his host thought he could control him, and was going to dissuade him of that opinion the hard way...and perhaps have a little fun as well. The Kyuubi watched with devilish glee as it looked through Naruto's eyes, seeing the smile quickly fall off of Jiraiya's face as he realized that Naruto wasn't in control, and if the Kyuubi had his way, he never would again. A simple swipe of his chakra tail swatted Jiraiya far faster than he could react, sending the man flying head first into a tree, knocking him out. The Kyuubi laughed, his host echoing it as though many voices were laughing at once, as it may not be free...yet, and with this damn seal and that bastard still inside, he wouldn't be...but he could surely make it's host willingly let it go, if only so he wouldn't repeat what he was about to make his host do. More tails pop up, till four arise, Naruto's body covered in a shroud of chakra that radiated pure malice. And a smile, mimicking the one the Kyuubi currently held, appeared on the boy's face.

"This is going to be fun." The Kyuubi said to himself as he forced Naruto to move towards a nearby village. All the while the boy currently sinks beneath the water of his mindscape, helpless to do anything but watch as he tears the people apart.

The blonde felt nothing but revulsion as he's forced to watch the Kyuubi use his body to massacre everyone in the village, the slick flow of blood trickling down his fingers as he tore the helpless civilians to pieces.

'Stop it.'

'Stop what Naruto? Don't you like the feeling?' The Kyuubi asked mockingly as it possesses the boy, forcing him to rip a woman to pieces. 'Isn't it delicious?' The Kyuubi said with a mocking smirk, enjoying the agony on the boy's face as he forces his physical body to rip and tear. 'Mmm, I can't believe I've gone this long without this.' The Kyuubi said, noticing Naruto beginning to shake. He grins as the boy begins to contort in pain. 'You thought you could control MY power? Hah, ignorant brat. I am the Kyuubi, the strongest of my brethren and this...this is only a taste of what i'm going to do. By the time I'm done with you, you're going to be begging to free me. Hey, maybe i'll go after that little pink haired bitch you like so much, eh Naruto?' The Kyuubi asked, his smirk changing into a furious glare as he looks at the boy as he continues to writhe. 'When I speak, you will answer you little shit.' The Kyuubi said, sending forth some chakra to further enhance the boys pain.

'I SAID STOP IT!' Naruto screamed before barbed chains pop out of his back, racing towards the Kyuubi, constricting the beast.

'WHAT?! NO! NOT THESE AGAIN!' The Kyuubi growled out as it wrestles with the chains, yet they don't break. His chakra is forced back into him and the last thing Naruto sees before he regains his mind is the Kyuubi glaring hatefully at him, his crimson eyes showing only the hope that the boy will suffer more in the future.

Naruto looked at the body of a small girl, before he retched, blood gushing out of his mouth as he vomits. He shakes violently as he gazes at his hands, covered in her blood, bits of flesh still attached.

"N-no. Never again. I'm never using that chakra again. Never."

Flashback Ended

Ao stared at Naruto as he finished his story, a slight edge of concern in his thoughts, though he makes sure not to show it on his face.

'On the one hand, he's an emotional wreck which'll make him easy to manipulate, and he's quite powerful. But on the other hand, it would be disastrous if he went berserk back home...but...I'll have to risk it. Besides, I have no doubt that we could at the very least use some genjutsu to steer him towards our enemies and minimize our casualties. No matter what happens, the chameleons shall win.' Ao thought, before replying to Naruto.

"Naruto-san, it isn't your fault." Ao said, but Naruto shook his head.

"It is my fault Ao-san. I-if I hadn't of used the Kyuubi's chakra, none of this would have happened...which is why I've called you here, so I can sign the contract. I-I can't go on like this. I need training and I can't wait any longer. If I do, the Kyuubi will just hurt more people and I can't risk him hurting anyone else. Especially if he were to attack my friends!" Naruto said with a panicked expression on his face. Ao smiled slightly before coughing up the summoning contract. "I know that doing this will cut me off from the toads, but I just can't take it anymore." Naruto said frantically as he nips his finger and signs the contract. Ao smirked as he watched the surprise on Naruto's face as he was reverse summoned, before he too, head's home. He'd done his part, now it was up to Shiromari to do his.

The two arrived with a poof, a large rain forest filling Naruto's vision as he looked around in slight awe, the Kamareon Forest being a bit different than what he expected.

Naruto's eyes wandered, spotting several large wooden houses and chameleons of all shapes and sizes staring at him. Ao tugged on his leg, guiding the boy towards a deep cave located near the back of the village. Naruto hesitated to step inside, as a deep breathing voice could be heard from the entrance, yet he pressed on. He said he was never going to use that chakra again, never do anything like that again, and he couldn't let something like fear stop him...

He wouldn't...

"Ao? Is that...hehehe...HAHAHAHAHA! AO, YOU SLIMY CUR! YOU POACHED THE TOAD'S SUMMONER?!" A deep booming voice resonated from deeper inside the cave. The cave began to shave before Naruto and Ao are forced out, landing with a wet flop as they hit the ground. Standing over them, the "cave" moved and showrf it's true form. A massive pale chameleon with blazing red eyes looked over them, a giant grin on it's face as both it's eyes focused on Naruto. "This is far greater than I imagined Ao. I knew I could trust you!" Shiromari said, Ao preening under the praise. "I will allow you one of the Choco-roaches from my stash. You've earned it." He said, his tail sliding out a large chocolate cockroach, the small blue chameleon eagerly munching down on the delicacy.

Shiromari gazed back towards Naruto before smiling.

Naruto's expression remained neutral, still not having recovered from what he-no, the Kyuubi did. The Kyuubi did it and it wasn't his fault, it wasn't his fault, it wasn-

"So summoner! We may as well get to know each other." The massive chameleon said, putting his hand on his chest. "My name is Shiromari, Naruto-san. I am the boss summon of the Chameleons and the third best wind user in the summons world, only surpassed by the Eagles and the Baku. And I have heard of you, but I feel a more personal introduction is necessary." He stated, gazing intently at Naruto.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said, 'And I just murdered dozens of innocen- no the Kyuubi did it', Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts before continuing. "And i'm going to be the next hokage!" 'And hopefully my friends never find out what kind of mons-no, it was the kyuubi, it's all his fault.' A deep laughter emanated from the confines of Naruto's mind, but he ignored it. He didn't need the Fox.

'But you would be a nobody without me~' The Kyuubi spoke into his mind, before he grunts in pain as the chains holding him down dig further into him.

Shiromari's grin widened further. Yes, this is the perfect summoner, he thought, a powerful moldable shinobi. He was right to send Ao. "A noteworthy goal. However now that introductions are out of the way, is there anything that you'd like to ask?" Shiromari asked, Naruto putting his hand up to his chin in contemplation.

'What should I ask?' He thought to himself. He could ask for techniques, but he figured that would be rude to be the first thing he asks about because it would make them think he was only in it for the power and that wasn't true. Ao had been quite nice to him, and he wanted to be friends with them. Learning more about them should be his top priority.

"I'd like to learn about the history of the chameleons." Naruto asked, and Shiromari's eyes widened slightly. He had thought the little kid would have wanted to learn techniques and jutsu first, yet he decided on history. Shiromari smiled. Yes, Ao had chosen a worthy summoner indeed, he thought before he answered Naruto.

"Ours is a long history, though we do share some history with other clans, most notably the salamanders, skinks, and the toads," Shiromari said, his disdain for the amphibians clear in his voice, "and we've all been around for nearly the same amount of time, give or take a few years. In the beginning of our existences, we were normal animals. Yet, when the sage gave chakra to the world and the Juubi was defeated-"

"Wait, Juubi? What the hell is that?" Shiromari's eye twitched at being interrupted, but he could forgive this transgression. For one time only of course.

"The predecessor to the bijuu, a monster of unimaginable power, and luckily for us, very dead as the sage had split it into the nine tailed beasts. The Ichibi, Nibi, Sanbi, Yonbi, Gobi, Rokubi, Nanabi, Hachibi, and the one I suspect you are intimately aware of, the Kyuubi." Shiromari said, and Naruto shuddered before looking down. "Their chakra saturated the planet, transforming us from mere animals, to sentient beings. Of course, we aren't located on the same world anymore. Humans began to think of us as demons and with their powerful bloodlines, we didn't stand much of a chance as many of us were young and we had no boss summons or powerful techniques yet. However, the powerful and intelligent dragons located an extremely large planet in a different dimension, and offered to take the summons with them. In exchange, we would be their slaves. Of course, choosing between existing as a slave or dying as a demon, practically all of us picked the former."

"We didn't know how savage the hearts of the dragons truly were." Shiromari said, Naruto listening intently as the story continued on.

"They used us to build massive monuments to them, city-size temples to their ego and worship. Many of the animals clans were worked to exhaustion, and even further till death took holds. The Echidna clan still hasn't recovered, and it's been over a thousand years since then. As you can see that i'm free and powerful, you can guess what happened to the dragons. Mighty though they were, they could not stand up against the might of every animal clan working against them. They were slaughtered to the last, the Unicorn and Bull summons leading the charge as they were the two most physically powerful underneath the dragons, while us Chameleons planted traps and spied on the dragons." Shiromari said, puffing up his chest as he proudly admitted to helping with the rebellion. "They were slaughtered, and any that fled were ripped to shreds by the Carrion King, the 1st head of the Vultures, and we were free. We divided into clans, maintaining our relationships and alliances. Then the toads screwed us over, when they allied with the snakes and the slugs."

"Wait you used to be allies with them?"

"Yes, I was but a young hatchling then, barely out of my egg, but we were. You see, we were not as strong as we are now, and had backed the Loyalist side of the Skink clan, who wanted to stay as their own clan while the Rebels wanted to join the Snake Clan under the lure of power and protection. When the Toads, who had been our allies at the time, joined up with the snakes, they practically declared themselves to be traitors. Of course, with both the Snake AND Toads backing the Rebel side, they won and were fused into the Snake Clan, with most of the Loyalists joining us, and some fleeing to the Salamanders. Several years later, the alliance broke off between the Toads and Snakes, both because of their summoners allegiances and for..." Shiromari smirked. "other reasons, as my servant Yatsu was keen on informing me. It must have been quite the surprise when the Toad Elder found several of his eggs smashed and a dead snake and Toad near them."

Naruto looked a little queasy at what Shiromari said, but the old Chameleon merely rolled his eyes.

"C'mon Naruto. They were traitors and they got exactly what they deserved. If someone betrayed you, wouldn't you like to hurt them?" He asked with a questioning glance.

Naruto wanted to say no, but the betrayal from Sasuke still stung. He really wanted to beat the hell out of the Uchiha and bring him back with both his legs broken. Make him see how it feels to have your body screwed up. "Yes, but not like that. They weren't even born yet." Naruto said as he clutches his stomach.

'I wouldn't judge the boss summon on killing kids. After all, you have a lot of experience in that field.' A malicious voice reminded Naruto, the boy shaking his head as he tries to remove those thoughts from his mind. It's the Kyuubi's fault, Naruto thinks, he did it.

'Keep telling yourself that kid. When you eventually fall into despair, it will make your misery all the sweeter.'

Shiromari shrugged. Shinobi killed children all the time, especially those Black Ops of theirs. Hell, his first summoner was an Anbu that got off on murdering people, and had used summoned him to kill entire villages. But perhaps it was due to age and rank that the boy hadn't gotten used to killing yet, and if so, Shiromari was sure he could train that out of him. He would teach the boy that wiping out a person's line completely kept them from being a threat later and murdering THEIR line. The idealistic Doves had thought that way, and they've ran through around 5 summoners in the past twenty years. He didn't want to emulate them.

"If they didn't want them to die, then they shouldn't have betrayed us. But that's in the past Naruto, what's done is done. What we should look forward to, is the future. So...now that I've told you our history, would you like to train in our techniques, or something else? As long as it's reasonable, I can acquiesce to it." Shiromari asked and Naruto, while still a little sick from what Shiromari said, tried to think of what he should do...become stronger or...something else?

"I'd like to train, Shiromari-sama!" Naruto replied. Shiromari glanced at his subordinate Ao. While he would have liked Kodai Yaro to train the boy, the Chameleon sage was…eccentric, and in Shiromari's mind, a complete prick. He didn't want him tainting the boy till he possibly learned Sage Mode, and so that left the position up to the little blue chameleon next to him. He smirked at Ao, the reptile too busy munching on the chocolate delicacy to notice the menacing smile on his leaders face.

"Well then, we have your trainer right here. Ao, you will be the one to train him in the ninja arts." The tiny reptile nearly choked on his meal as one of his eyes swivels towards the massive white chameleon.

"What?" The little guy croaked out.

"You heard me. And if I hear any funny business about you slacking off, well," Shiromari licked his lips. "You know what the consequences will be."

"H-hai Shiromari-sama!" The blue chameleon quickly finished up his meal before crawling away. "C'mon Naruto-kun. I'll make a shinobi out of you yet."

'Damn you Shiromari! All I wanted was a quiet life, and now you put me in charge of the most hyper ninja I've ever seen!'

Naruto looked at the small blue reptile with a questioning look on his face, wondering why he was grumbling so much but quickly follows after him, eager to finally get some training done.


	3. Chapter 3: It's time to get physical!

**Chapter 3**

"Oh hell...Naruto where are you?" Jiraiya whispered to himself as he asked around another town, no one having seen a trace of the boy.

Jiraiya was panicking. He had promised Minato that he would take care of his son, and while he may have been far too busy with his spy network to do so as his Godfather, he thought he could help the kid as his sensei as payment for all the years he wasn't there, and as a slightly smaller part of him reminded him, ease some of the guilt he felt for leaving Naruto behind. He had used his sealing knowledge to loosen Naruto's seal again so he could have an easier grasp on the Tailed Beast's chakra, and over time, he would toughen back up the seal to help him train in it. After he mastered at least three tails, he would have started to train him, as he felt like that would have been enough to keep him safe from Akatsuki's grasp and everything afterwords would have been to help him improve on his screwed up taijutsu, chakra control, and maybe even sneak a bit of sealing in there.

Of course, it was just his luck to have the Kyuubi possess Naruto almost as soon as he loosened the seal. A quick swipe from the tail, having surprised the Toad Sannin, had knocked him out, and the boy ran off. And then he...

Jiraiya was a little sick as he remembered the ripped apart bits of flesh he had seen. He had seen a lot of death, but that level of mutilation...only the most depraved shinobi resorted to that, and the fact that Naruto did, even under the Kyuubi's influence, made Jiraiya shiver in disgust and self hatred, and also terror as he thought of his wayward student. The fact that Naruto had massacred everyone as well, it didn't bode well for his mental state. Considering there wasn't a giant fox running around, Jiraiya knew that the Kyuubi wasn't freed but it still worried him. With the seal loosened it would have more access to Naruto's mind, and after what happened in that village, Jiraiya doubted that he was very mentally sound, so, he checked with his contacts and moved on, hopeful for any lead so he could tighten the seal and help Naruto.

The only lead he had was the village, and it disappeared shortly after. Jiraiya knew that, luckily, he wasn't dead. His name on the toad's contract was simply crossed out. If it had been both red and crossed out, then he'd have to plan the boy's funeral, but since it was just crossed out, it meant that the Toad's had either canceled the contract, Naruto had suited up with a rival clan, or he had simply canceled the contract on his own. Considering Gamakichi had seemed pretty irritated when he mentioned Naruto, it was most likely that Naruto had suited up with one of their rival summoning villages.

Unfortunately for Jiraiya, that was many. The Toads were one of the most powerful summoning clans, and many were eager to take their place. The Geckos, the Octopi, the Foxes (especially after their war with the toads practically destroyed their clan, all except for the Arctic enclaves), and...Jiraiya shivered, the Chameleons. Sneaky little bastards that stole and killed to make sure that they stayed in a position of power. Not unlike shinobi and the hidden villages, Jiraiya thought, but without any empathy or humanity. If Naruto was with them...Jiraiya shuddered. If the Toad's prophecy ran true, than their was no doubt that Naruto would change the world, and certainly not for the better. Still, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe he was with the Geckos, Jiraiya thought, or perhaps even with the foxes. Not that he'd like for Naruto to be near the Foxes considering his tenant, but...it was certainly better than those invisible monsters.

Even worse was the fact that it was almost impossible for summons to spy on each other. After all, a toad couldn't disguise itself as a fox, no matter how hard it tried. This made it very difficult to gain information, yet that may prove useful as the ever furious chameleons had been acting strangely, bringing in some of their scouts and patrols to their village, concentrating their power and going silent. It may be a lead, and Shima promised to keep an ear to the ground, so Jiraiya had at least some information coming from the summoning realm.

Jiraiya left the town, having gained next to nothing on Naruto as he continued on. Another unfortunate thought had popped into his mind.

One on his old teammate Orochimaru. The intel he had received from one of his contacts had been rather disturbing. Orochimaru had recently found information on how to cancel contracts, yet keep the summons there, allowing him to experiment on whichever poor summon he got his hands on. No information on if he had actually USED it, but knowing him it was only a matter of time. Or had had already done it. If he had found Naruto and resealed the Kyuubi, he would be a prime test subject for the man, capable of withstanding grievous wounds and horrible tests that would kill normal humans, and Naruto would lie helpless, unable to summon toads to save him.

Thoughts of Naruto filled his mind, the blonde lying on a table, his insides exposed to the open air as he wondered where his sensei was.

Jiraiya clenched his fist as he headed towards Kusa, his informant having told him the location of one of Orochimaru's bases there, a prison for curse mark test subjects. He had promised Minato that he would take care of his son, and he would keep it. And if he found out that Orochimaru HAD taken Naruto...well, there'd be one less Sannin.

While Jiraiya moved towards Grass Country, Ao was doing the hard task of watching Naruto attempt anything to do at all with being a Shinobi.

'His taijutsu is garbage, his genjutsu is non-existent, he has a shit ton of chakra but no control, knows two jutsu outside his sexy clone jutsu which is a rather advanced transformation technique, has a jutsu created by the Yondaime Hokage but has to use a clone to form it because his chakra control blows, and has no weapons skills whatsoever.' The little blue chameleon thought as he watched Naruto finish up the showcase of his skills. 'I am absolutely fucked.'

"So, how was that Ao-sensei?" Naruto asked, a big grin marring his face. While he was still disturbed by what he had done when he had lost control, he had pushed it to the back of his mind for now. He couldn't let what the civilians said back in Konoha become true. He was no monster, and once he became strong enough, he'd find a way to destroy the Kyuubi once and for all. "I'm Konoha's number one knucklehead ninja!"

'Number 1 retard more like it.' The reptile thought. 'How the hell is he still alive with skills this atrocious?' Ao restrained himself from belittling the boy since harsh comments with no compliments would drive the boy away. Instead, he decided to take a rather different approach.

"Naruto-san, your skills are not on par to what the Chameleon clan expects of it's summoner." Nor was it on par to what any of the Hidden Villages would've accepted as Genin level had he not been a Jinchuuriki, and thus, born to die in service of his village. "So I will have to carefully instruct to bring you up to our standards. First off, create ten of your shadow clones."

"Why?" Naruto asked, his head tilted as he questions his sensei. The reptile held himself back from slapping the boy with his tongue for questioning him, but relents since he knew that he had to be VERY patient with the kid.

"Simple. The shadow clone technique transfers it's memories back to the user. Therefore, I will instruct several of your shadow clones to work on various shinobi arts so we can get you caught up to speed." It was something they had learned by watching the Yondaime Hokage use it for training with the toads. Ao believed it to be such a shame that they couldn't get their chakra to mold in the way to create the technique. It would have made Genjutsu creation so much quicker.

"Really? Then why doesn't everyone do it?"

"Secrecy and a host of debilitating side effects. No one but the top Konoha shinobi know about this, and they can barely create more than a few shadow clones. And the side effects are rather nasty. Clones have a habit of creating alternate personalities if left alive for too long, and when those memories get sent back, they can create split personalities in the user. Also, it can create mass hemorrhaging in the brain if too much information is sent back too quickly. Like so." His tongue lanced out of his mouth, catching the clones off guard and dissipating them within a split second of each other.

Naruto cried out as his brain felt like his brain was on fire, his head throbbing as he clutched it in his hands. Not only that, but the phantom sensation of the hard tongue slap was not pleasant either. After a few seconds, the throbbing went away as Naruto glared at his sensei. "Hey, why'd you go and do that? That hurt like hell!"

"To teach you a lesson. You're a Jinchuuriki, I get that. But you don't want to use that powerful weapon in your belly so you're going to have to fight smarter AND harder." Ao said, a frown on his face. He had wanted to live a quiet life after coasting off his success on finding a summoner, only to end up training the brat. At least he got to punish the kid, allowing him a small form of stress relief, even if he had to do it when the kid screwed up and only then.

He wondered how he would get that nice quiet life now.

"Now create them again."

Naruto looked hesitant, before his hands go into the all too familiar cross sign. Ao looked at the clones with his swiveling eyes before spouting out orders. "Two of you will work on handsign speed. It's both important for jutsu and could help with creating clones one handedly leaving the other hand open for offensive or defensive tactics. Two of you work on chakra control. Climb trees till you can't do it anymore. Another two work on Kunai practice, and another two shuriken. The last two work on doing the rasengan without a clone. Now go." The clones grumbled as they move to different parts of the field to practice.

"As for you," He said, his eyes swiveling towards the real Naruto, "you will be doing physical exercises. While your clones work on getting you up to par with your chakra and jutsu, I will be teaching you the only thing they can't give you a return on. Physical exercises. Now, take off your jacket. It's going to be really hot, and wearing that while exercising in a rain forest is not an especially bright idea."

"I-I'm alright in this Ao-sensei, honest." He said, trying to fool the chameleon with his grin.

Ao is having none of that, and he blasted the blonde with a nice dose of killing intent. "I said, take it off."

Naruto gulped, before removing his jacket and the shirt underneath it. Ao winced as he looks at the boy, looking more like a starved child than one who supposedly lived in the greatest hidden village. By the Sage, he could practically see his ribs!

Naruto had mentioned that he loved ramen, but from what it seemed, it was damn near all he ate, and that had proved to be incredibly detrimental to his body. The little chameleon knew that it had to be the Kyuubi's doing that the boy was alive, or rather, it's chakra. While the beast would happily let the boy die to get a possibility of escape, it's chakra would try to keep him alive, having attained a sort of symbiotic effect with its host.

But that chakra could only go so far, and Ao would have to take drastic measures to correct this travesty he called a body.

"Naruto-san, you will do exactly as I say when it comes to your training, and that includes a new meal plan. I will allow you ramen once per week if you exceed my expectations," Naruto tried to shout in protest, but Ao finally had enough and slaps him across the face with his tongue. "I am not doing this to punish you, I am doing this to make you look like you aren't some orphan from a war-torn country."

"I know I don't look very good. Why do you think I wear this jacket? I mean, orange is the best color, that's a fact, but…" Naruto looked small, like the child he is, and Ao felt a tiny bit of mercy in his heart. "The second a girl sees what I look like underneath this bulky thing, they'll think I'm disgusting."

"I understand, which is why I am withholding ramen for once a week. You need vital nutrition to grow into a powerful and strong shinobi, and while I am guessing you don't get those foods due to your status," Naruto nodded his head, confirming the little reptile's thoughts, "the same is not true here." He retched as he coughs up a scroll, before opening it up and placing his chakra into it.

A loud poof signaled the appearance of a practical gourmet of exotic looking treats…for a chameleon. Cockroaches, crickets, worms, insects of all varieties and flavors appeared. "Insects contain a lot of vitamins and protein. ESPECIALLY protein. You will exercise till you can't move, and then you will dine with me."

"But-" Naruto tried to get out of this situation, not eager to eat insects but Ao was not in the mood to put up with him.

"I am your sensei, so either do it or hope Shiromari-sama doesn't try and eat you when he finds out you ditched me because you were too good to eat the same things we eat." Ao said, the blondes eyes widening as he looks at the food, then back at his sensei.

He bowed.

"I would be honored to eat the same thing as you. I'm sorry if I came off as being too stuck up like the teme." Ao grinned at the statement.

"Good. Now drop and give me one hundred."


	4. Chapter 4: Getting out of dodge

**Chapter 4**

Karin Uzumaki wasn't a very complex girl. She was a short red-haired and red eyed girl with glasses and with long straight yet slightly spiky hair falling to the middle of her back. She wore a white lab coat over a purple shirt descending down to short shorts, black leggings, and shinobi sandals on her lower body. She loved boys, her perfume collection, anything to do with the Uzumaki clan (especially her sealing scrolls and cursed seals in particular), and biology research.

Karin Uzumaki also hated almost everything else.

Not to say this wasn't a good thing in the hellhole that was the facility she was in charge of, hearing nothing but the gnashing and wailing of the cursed seal subjects she was forced to watch over, because it meant that she had a couple moments to herself to actually despise what she was forced to do.

But it did mean that she had time to self-reflect, something she dreaded. Her life had been hell, and still currently was, having her father killed by bandits and her and her mother being used by them, being saved by Kusa Shinobi only for them to use her mother as a healing machine till she died, and then used her once she kicked the bucket, and now used as a Prison Guard and blood experiment for Orochimaru, even when he promised he wouldn't use her like that.

'Lying sack of crap. He uses my blood all the time to extend the time he has in his bodies, and then he has the gall to take all of Sasuke-kun's time.' She thought as she stared dreamily at a picture of him she had sneakily taken. He was the one bright spot in her life, smiling at her and for a few brief moments, treating her as more than a tool to be used. That time, if small, was the best moment of her life in the last few years, as it had become slowly worse and worse since her father died, and her mother a few years after. 'Then he shoves me into this dead-end place so I won't distract Sasuke-kun from his training. I was so close to getting him with my charm. Ugh, can it get any worse?'

The kamis decided to answer her question when an alarm started ringing throughout the facility, the young red-haired girl dashing over to one of the camera's, spotting a tall white-haired man sauntering into the facility, casually killing the failed curse test seal subjects like they were nothing.

"Oh no, that's Jiraiya of the Sannin!" The redhead was put into a corner. Either she stays, is possibly killed by the Sannin, and is loyal to Orochimaru. Or she leaves, risks being hunted down by Orochimaru and his subordinates upon which if captured, she'd surely be guaranteed a fate worse than death, but survives the day.

In the redhead's mind, it's not even a question.

"Fuck the snake. I can always go grab Sasuke-kun and make him mine later, right now it's time to get the hell out of here!" She said, grabbing the large scroll full of Uzumaki sealing knowledge and history and strapping it to her back. She quickly sealed her research on biology and Orochimaru's curse seal, along with supplies and her perfume collection and headed out of a secret exit.

While one Uzumaki fled from her facility, another finished his month of training in the training ground of the Kamereon Forest, the constant rain trickling down onto his head, matting his blonde hair down.

"You know Ao-san, when I first started this, I thought you were pretty nuts," He said before popping a fried cricket into his mouth, munching down on the snack with his mouth closed. Along with training in the shinobi aspects of his life, he had also been taught proper manners by the chameleon. While he complained at first, Ao had shut him up by explaining that any leader, especially a Hokage, would need these skills if they wanted to be effective. "But I gotta admit, you're the best one I've had. Which is kind of sad because you're not even human, and you've been better than the two ones I did have."

"I am amazing, as can be expected from one of the Chameleon Clan," Ao said, preening under Naruto's compliment. It actually meant a lot to the small reptile as he was not used to being praised like that, mostly being looked over due to his small stature. He was no Kasai, with his sheer strength, or Kodai, with his massive knowledge of techniques and the sage arts.

But he was crafty, and as it turned out, a good teacher.

"Oh, and thanks for the outfit as well. My old one was becoming a little ragged after all the fights I got into, believe it." The blonde had a change of wardrobe, switching out his orange jacket and pants for a black tank top and baggy orange pants. Ao had tried to dissuade him from using orange at all, but he wouldn't be swayed.

He refused to go without his favorite color.

Besides, he wanted people to notice him now due to his better health. While he wasn't a muscular freak, the sheer amount of working out, combined with the regenerative healing rate, Naruto's own strange muscular system (a bloodline from the Kyuubi perhaps, Ao felt it would be prudent to look into it later), and the large amount of protein from eating insects had given him a quite fit body.

"Man I can't wait till Sakura-chan sees me like this. She'll forget all about Sasuke, and then she'll be like 'Naruto, you're so cool and awesome!'" He said, giving Ao a big grin. The chameleon rolled his eyes at the boys antics, knowing it was both a part of him and a way to not think on his actions while under the Kyuubi's influence. Trying to dissuade the boy that it was the Kyuubi's influence and not himself hadn't lessened any of the guilt, but it had proven to make him train harder so Ao relented on putting much effort into fixing it.

"Bah, you and your human women. I still don't understand why you don't just give her a proper mating dance, just do a little of this," He swayed to one side, "or this." He waggles his tail. "It'll have her practically falling in your arms."

Naruto was very doubtful of that. Sakura-chan would probably knock him across the head for shaking his rear at her, but he wasn't planning on disagreeing with his sensei.

He didn't want to get smacked by his tongue again. For such a small chameleon, he packed quite a punch.

"Now, you've certainly surpassed my expectations Naruto-san." Ao admitted, much to both Naruto's and his own relief. Naruto's, because Ao promised to teach him a chameleon jutsu if he surpassed his expectations, and Ao, because it meant that Shiromari would be pleased with him and would reward him greatly for bringing their summoner to a good level shinobi wise.

"If I were to rank you, I would say you were at least Chunin level now. Certainly, with your improvements you would be one in my eyes. However, you are quite lacking in experience." Ao said, causing the blonde to deflate slightly. "We'll have two methods to do this, which we will be practicing shortly. As our summoner, you are also one of our fighters, hence, you will be helping us on a small border clash we are having with the Bear summons. If we can defeat their leader, we will be able to force them to retreat, and it will also improve our reputation immensely."

"Killing is optional. It could help spread your reputation if you leave them alive, but you could also spread your reputation by killing them. It's up to you. But," Ao said, his black eyes glaring into Naruto's "I will not have your foolishness regarding killing still going on when we fight missing-nin. Shiromari-sama wants me to bloody you, and there's no better way to do it then through some good ol' fashion bounty hunting in the shinobi world."

Naruto gulped, feeling a little queasy in his stomach at the thought of killing. 'Can I really do it?' He thought to himself as he looked into his sensei's eyes, the chameleon looking as if he was gauging him for a reaction. "I'll…try not to disappoint you sensei, believe it."

"You seemed to have trouble answering me straight." Ao narrowed his eyes at the boy, his already beady eyes becoming smaller. "But I will be going with you, so you do not really have a choice in the matter. Besides, most missing-nin are criminals, so it won't be as if you are killing innocent civilians."

'You have a lot of experience in that.' The Kyuubi's voice rang out in his head, the boy clenching his fists as he nods.

"It'll be hard, but I-I think I can do it Ao-sensei." He said, causing the chameleon to nod.

"Good, now," Ao walked forward and onto the blonde's shoulder. "Follow my instructions. We're heading to go take care of those bear summons, and you'd better not freeze up on this. Their claws can cut down trees you know."

* * *

Following Ao's directions, the duo managed to come upon the bears, a rather large one sitting lazily underneath a tall tree along with two others. Ao had mentioned it was a border clash, so Naruto had expected more. Then again, the Chameleon's were considered weak, and the bears were quite large, so it may have had to do with the bears size and sheer deadly ability with their claws giving them a bigger advantage over the chameleons.

"Ah, so more chameleons have…wait," The bear narrowed his eyes at the blonde, "That is no disguise. You guys have a summoner again," The bear said through gritted teeth. "We still don't have one, and yet you dishonorable cowards do? The Sage must have cursed us for such a thing to happen."

"The Sage curses a lot of things, especially you all due to your lack of intelligence." Ao said, giving the bears a smug smirk despite wanting to crawl under a rock and hide. He valued being alive very much, and hadn't lasted this long by being brave. Still, he knew that the Uzumaki could handle this, or at least, very much hoped so.

Otherwise a painful death was in their future.

"Mo-san, wipe him out." The smaller of the three bears complied with his bosses' orders, dashing towards the duo. Naruto jumps onto one of the trees, using his higher vantage point to pelt it's legs with shurikens, cutting into the muscle underneath and crippling it.

He leapt down from the tree, his leg kicking down and slamming his leg onto its head, instantly knocking it out. The other two bears growl out as they shift, the threat the blonde represented rising.

"Chi-san, with me!" The large bear said as it readies itself to fight, "You go left, I'll go right!"

"Yes Sou-sama!" The mid-sized bear replied, dodging the blonde's initial strike with his kunai, before trying to bite down on the boy, only for him to disappear in a poof of smoke, having replaced himself with a shadow clone. "Damn, substitution!"

The bear didn't have much time to think on it as it, it's dog piled by clones, the copies trying to hit its head to knock it out. Sou couldn't help but look on in despair as his comrade succumbs to the horde, falling unconscious under the blonde tide. "Damn cheat! Just like the chameleons to have someone like you among them."

"Hey, screw you fluffy prick! Don't talk about my friends like that or I'll make you swallow some of them teeth!" Naruto shouted from far above the bear, his right hand pointed up with his middle and index finger, a sign of having created the clones with one hand. "Actually, keep talkin', I've got something you can swallow right now!"

Naruto concentrated as he slowly created the rasengan, the swirling blue ball forming in his hands. The bear doesn't recognize the technique, but he can certainly tell that getting hit by it wasn't a good idea. Unfortunately for him, he was so concentrated on the real Naruto, that he forgot about the small horde that was getting closer to him.

"Gah!" He let out a cry as they latch onto him, the bear trying to shake them off so he can escape. It was bad enough that his comrades had been defeated, but if he were to fall here, he would never hear the end of it back home in Kuma Cave. Losing to the chameleons would make him the laughingstock of his entire race, even if it was their summoner. "Get off of me!" He shook himself furiously, but was held down by the small chameleon, Ao using his tongue to hit the bear in the knees.

Naruto didn't relent as he ran down the tree he was perched on, a spiraling chakra ball in his hand. Sou's eyes widening in pain before he passes into unconsciousness, the blonde slamming the rasengan into the side of his stomach. The technique sending the bear flying into a tree, leaving it sprawled in a small wooden crater.

"Great job guys!" He said, the clones giving him a thumbs up as they slowly dispel. "So how was that sensei?"

"Very good. And also, very satisfying." Ao said with a rather dark smirk on his face. "The bears have been harassing us for years, and now that they know we have a summoner, they'll think twice before fighting us. These guys won't be able to go home without being the laughingstock of their community, and that just makes me so happy."

"Uh, that's great Ao-sensei." Naruto replied, not liking the rather creepy smile his sensei sported as he looked at the bears.

"It is great, isn't it? In fact, it's so good, that I think we can jumpstart returning to the Shinobi world. Once I report this to Shiromari-sama, you and me will start our missing-nin hunt. Isn't that wonderful?" The small chameleon asked, still looking intently at the bears, a small feeling of revenge filling his heart. It felt good to finally see that his clan would be moving up in status, instead of just being considered a weak and pathetic summoning clan. He didn't notice the rather nervous expression on Naruto as he replies.

"Yeah," Naruto gulped, "It's wonderful, believe it."


	5. Chapter 5: Bloodied

**Chapter 5**

"There you go. Now stretch out your tongue like this…" Ao's tongue whipped out, snatching a kunai that had been laying a few meters away, "and you've got it."

Naruto quickly mimicked the technique, his tongue lancing out slowly, but eventually getting quicker and quicker with it, much to his sensei's satisfaction. Of course, he had tried to distract the boy with a new jutsu, the boy quickly catching onto it and working his ass off to get great at it. Mostly because every minute spent practicing was another minute he didn't spend getting ready to hunt a bounty.

Unfortunately for the blonde, Ao saw right through his game and didn't hesitate to destroy the blondes hopes that he'd be able to skip out on bloodying himself.

"Ah, you seem very capable Naruto-san, so I believe that we should be getting ready to head out for tonight's hunt." The blue chameleon gave Naruto an unnerving smile, causing the blonde to gulp. "I've already got the bounty, and any information on her. I'll reverse summon you in a nearby location, and watch you do the deed. It'll be up to you to hunt them down. Got it?"

Naruto didn't trust himself to speak because he knew that he'd try to stall, try to find a way to get out of this, but by the look in his sensei's eyes, he knew that this would be a big moment for his relationship with his new friends. If he couldn't complete this, then he could very well kiss his new life with the chameleons goodbye and be easy prey for someone like the Akatsuki.

"I got it Ao-sensei." The blonde replied, Ao giving him a small smile in return.

"Then get ready. In an hours' time, I'll reverse summon you to Grass Country."

An hour passed, and Ao latched onto the boy's shoulder and reverse summoned him to the shinobi world, quickly hiding in a couple bushes and camouflaging himself. Naruto took a deep breath before heading into the woods, not very eager to do this deed.

He had finally found her, after hours of having his shadow clones search, he had found her camped out deep in the woods. Her eyes were drooping, and he only needed one good shot to-

To kill-

Naruto gulped. He may be a shinobi, but he didn't like killing. Even if, logically he knew that he would have to, it still made him a bit sick to his stomach. Taking several quiet breaths, he gripped down hard on his kunai before flinging it, hitting the woman in her throat. She floundered for a bit before...dissolving into water!

"Damn!" Naruto harshly whispered as he felt a piece of water breeze past his head, carving a nice sized chunk of bark from the tree behind him.

"Water Style: Water Whip!" The kunoichi said, having appears from behind a tree, two jugs of water on her back allowing her ammunition for her water jutsu. Naruto dodged, zipping in and out between the trees as he tried to avoid her cutting whips, the woman pouring more chakra into the technique than needed, strengthening it even further. Naruto threw an explosive kunai at the women, forcing her to dodge lest she be caught in the blast, the explosion kicking up a lot of dirt, temporarily hiding Naruto from view. When it died down, he was gone from her sight and yet, as she glanced to the side, she can see a tuft of yellow hair sticking out from behind a tree.

"Gotcha." She whispered with a cruel smile on her face as she goes through handsigns. "Water Style: Water Bullet" She said, water from the jugs flowing into her mouth as her cheeks expanded. She spat out a liquid bullet, the water moving at tremendous speed and completely tearing off the boy's head...yet the body disappeared into smoke.

"Fucking bushin." She muttered as she pulled out a large tetsubo, the muscular woman wielding it easily with one hand.

She made a dash for the forest, trying to get out of the clearing but multiple kage bunshins appeared from behind the trees, explosive tags attached to their forms as they charged her. Her free hand goes through several handsigns before she performs a variant of her previous jutsu. "Water Style: Rapid Fire Bullets!" She gurgled out as she gathered water in her mouth, before spitting again, perforating the clones which causes their explosive to go off, forcing her further into the clearing. She began to panic using her Water Whip technique to send lances of deadly water out in every direction, hoping to, if not kill her opponent, then to wound him enough to allow her to escape. As much as she wanted to kill the fucker that dared attack her, she knew that she was getting low on chakra and would have to start using her tetsubo soon. A good plan against a normal enemy, but against a tricky shinobi like the one she was fighting it, she may as well just pull out a kunai and slit her own throat.

Her water whips seemed to have done the trick, her ears picking up the sounds of bushins popping, before the boy appeared, his tongue lancing out and catching onto her arm, stopping her from continuing the technique. Infuriated both by finally seeing her true opponent, a damn brat, and from having her escape plan halted, she grabbed the kid's tongue and pulls it forward. As he sped towards her, she let go and grabbed her tetsubo, slamming it into his head. A poof of smoke revealed it as a bushin, but the fizzing noise she heard sent fear into her heart. She tried to get away but it was too late. She was blown back, hitting the tree behind her with a weighty thump. She groaned as she shakily stood, the boy appearing in front of her and surrounded by more copies of himself.

Beaten by a brat, what a disgrace, she thought to herself as he walked slightly closer, kunai in hand. She noticed that it's shaking and she smirked.

"Do you know how to even use that thing?" She taunted, "C'mon, a REAL shinobi could do it. I doubt a fuckup like you can though, seeing as you're nothing but a brat who got lucky." She said, hoping to infuriate him enough to get him to move closer. If she was quick enough, she could smash him with her tetsubo, hopefully killing him, and if not, at least knocking him out as she makes her escape.

Naruto held his kunai...

And he...threw it. Despite his aim, the kill was not clean. It hit Himari in the throat, disregarding her attempt to dodge, the chunin gurgling as she drowned in her own blood. The red liquid flowed out of her wound and she fell to the ground, her body twitching a few times before she finally passed on. Naruto looked at her, and was...disturbed. Partially by the kill, though that was lessened by the thought of the inevitability of this, that he would HAVE to kill, even if it made him feel sick to his stomach. But it was the other part of his mind, the darkest pits which he never let show to anyone, that scared him. The thoughts flowed out. Vermin, parasite, she deserved to die, and more vitriol filled his mind as he clasped his head, desperately trying to shove the thoughts down. A dark laugh echoed throughout his mind, causing the blonde to growl at the Kyuubi's attempts at manipulating him.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up." He muttered to himself as the thoughts lessened, yet he still felt as disgusted as ever, even more so because he knew that part of him agreed with the Kyuubi's thoughts on the woman. She had been trying to kill him, and it had been the right response to fight her back. It was his right to defend himself, but he had been the one hunting her in the first place. For money and for approval. He walked towards her corpse, eyes emotionless as he looked at her body, and looted her corpse.

A bit of cash, her tetsubo, and a jutsu scroll.

A life for that and some more cash.

He sealed her body into a scroll that Ao had provided him with before moving on, heading towards the Bounty Station as he pushed those thoughts further and further from his mind. After a few hours of running he managed to come across the Bounty Station, the building only slightly outside the village.

Naruto walked inside, noticing several other shinobi and samurai of varying nations looking at certain bounties, most of them higher ranked with bigger bounties. After wading through the other ninja, he arrived at a counter with a scruffy looking man behind it. The man raised his eyebrow, clearly confused about someone so young in his bounty station, but he shrugged and got on with his work.

"Whaddya want?" The man asked.

"I've got a bounty for one Himari, a C-Ranked bounty, and would like payment." Naruto said as he slides the scroll across the table. The man glances out the scroll, pushing a bit of chakra into it, and with a 'poof', Himari's corpse appears on the table. The man checks a photo of her, before moving to the back and returns with a small square handheld machine. A vial filled of blood is on one side, while the other is another empty vial in another, the empty one being filled with blood from the corpse. Once the man finished, the machine whirs, and dings, a green light appearing on it, indicating a match. The man reseals the corpse before heading to the back and returning with a small stack of ryo.

"Here you go kid, 10,000 Ryo." The man said as he hands Naruto the cash. The boy grabbed the money, before bowing and leaving the station, heading towards the nearby village. He heads towards several stores, buying a some more chakra paper to buy explosive tags, a couple of kunai, and after that, he wandered around the village a bit, taking in the sights.

He arrived at a small ramen store, the smell bringing him in as he found his favorite food. He licked his lips and ordered a couple bowls as he looked over his gear that he got off Himari. A decent Tetsubo, Naruto thought as he looked at the large bat-like weapon. It could certainly be used in case his stealth failed. As for the scroll, he opened it and noticed the jutsu, Water Style: Water Bullet. Naruto grinned as he looked at the jutsu. Sure he may have had to...get rid of Himari to get it, but something like this was certainly good. As the bowls arrive, he slurps down some ramen, finally getting some real food after eating bugs for over a month, as he-

"Hey, what's a strong guy like you doing here?" A red haired girl asked as she sat on the seat next to Naruto.

"Eh?" Naruto replied, before he puffed up a bit at the compliment. "Er, I mean, i'm just doing stuff. Cool stuff." Naruto looks at the girl. She's a bit shorter than he is with red hair and ruby eyes, a small scientist coat covering most of her. It was really cute in Naruto's eyes, and he blushes a little as she moves closer.

"Ah, is that a scroll? Ooh, a jutsu scroll? That must mean you're a shinobi right, and probably a powerful one!" She said, and Naruto smiled.

"You better believe it! One day i'm going to be so strong, I'll be the Hokage!" Naruto said, happy to share his dream with the girl, and most importantly, distract him from what he did a few hours ago. She smiled back at him and bowed slightly.

"So mister bigshot, what's your name?" She asked.

"Naruto Uzumaki. And yours?"

"Karin. Just Karin." She replied.

"Well Karin, it's nice to meet someone in this village that isn't a civilian and looking like they want to gut me." He said, eyeing the slight glint of steel inside her scientists cloak. Karin smiled even though she curses in her mind. She hadn't wanted to be defenseless if someone managed to counter her techniques, so ditching her weaponry was out, so she decided to hide them inside her cloak and hope for the best. Apparently, she didn't hope enough. "So where do you hail from? I'm from Konoha."

"I'm from, well, here. Not this village of course, mine was destroyed by bandits. But I hail from Kusagakure." She replied, pushing her glasses up slightly, "Or at least I used to, before a rich man bought my services. I was talented with sealing, and so I used my talents for his experiments. Unfortunately, our contract expired and I had to go looking for work again." She shrugged her shoulders. "Not exactly sad to leave if I'm being honest."

"Why not? It sounds...decent. Sure, it isn't the most exciting, but it's stable. I'd have loved to do something like that if I didn't want to become a kage." Naruto replied. He honestly would have too. While being a shinobi was cool and all, he didn't like the fact that he had to kill. He gulps as he thinks of that word before he hardens his heart. He'd already done it, so there was no going back now. He could only look toward the future and keep himself from becoming a bloodthirsty maniac like the Kyuubi wanted him to be. He steadied himself as he continued to listen to Karin.

"Nah, he was kind of an ass. But enough about that, how about we team up. I'm a shinobi without work, and I'm not strong enough alone. With you by my side though, with your strength and my sealing knowledge, I'm sure we could be unbeatable." She said, and Naruto agrees. As much as he liked having some alone time after spending a little over a month with the chameleons, it did get lonely. And perhaps he would have a female friend that didn't punch him or berate him...it would be nice. He gives her a thumbs up as he smiles back at her.

"Sure Karin-chan. Me and you, we'll be the best team ever!" Karin smiled back, before digging into her sushi. The two continued to munch down on their dinner, the town getting less and less crowded, and by the time they're finished it was nearly nine'o clock at night. The waiter walked up to them, a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

"We're closing." She said, before slipping them the bill. Naruto sheepishly smiled back before handing her the ryo, paying for both his and Karin's meal, before slipping out of the restaurant with Karin and heading towards the town's HELP WANTED board. As not all countries had shinobi villages and not everything required the intervention of a full team, many medium sized villages like the one they were in had small HELP WANTED boards for wandering shinobi or samurai to get some cash while also helping the recipient. Naruto gazes at the board, immediately crossing out anything that was rated B or over. He didn't want to get killed and with his new friend with him, he didn't want her to die either.

His bright blue eyes skimmed down the list, and his eyes widened as he saw the last one.

"Help Wanted: Protection for Kyuubi Festival."


	6. Chapter 5 Interlude: Karin finds her Sun

Interlude: Karin finds the Sun

"Finally!" Karin said as she arrived at the village. She had barely escaped the hidden facility, the toad sannin too busy fighting off Orochimaru's curse seal test subjects to notice the red haired girl booking it out of their. She ran and ran, till her legs hurt, trying to get to the nearest village so she could rest. Hopefully, she'd be able to get to the Scattered Lands before Orochimaru found out that his facility was destroyed so she could at least have a chance at hiding away. She knew what Orochimaru did to failures after all, having taken care of them for the better part of three years and had no wish to be one herself.

She extended her Mind's Eye, checking the village for any threats. No one seemed particularly interested in harming her, though a few nin that she found in the village near the HELP WANTED board seemed to have several disturbing emotions towards her. Still, nothing compared to the sun that was the boy she found sitting in a ramen restaurant.

"Hey, what's a strong guy like you doing here?" Karin asked as she gets closer to the boy, enjoying the feeling of basking in his warmth. He had sooo much chakra, and it felt like a nice warm hug being near him, even if she felt the pure malice that was deeper inside him, seemingly tucked away but slowly edging its way to the surface. Either he was a jinchuuriki or he was an anomaly. Considering the fact that he wore a Konoha headband and looked like how Orochimaru had described the boy when she had studied under Kabuto, he was probably the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails.

The most powerful bijuu.

If she could get him to trust her, to fall for her, well then, she'd be protected. Orochimaru might be terrifying for a human, but he was just that, human.

Compared to the demon that was the Fox, capable of devastating countries with tsunamis and smashing apart mountains with it's tail, he was nothing.

"Eh?" Naruto replied, before he puffs up a bit at the compliment. "Er, I mean, i'm just doing stuff. Cool stuff." Naruto replied as he looks at Karin, the girl moving slightly closer to him, basking in his glow. Yes, she would have him, Karin thought. He was attractive. Not too good looking like Sasuke-kun was, but he was fit and would probably be quite charming in the future. He was also powerful if the amount of chakra was any indication, and judging by the scroll in his hands, was a devoted learner, striving to be even more powerful.

He would protect her...if she played her cards right.

And if she got desperate, well she already lost her virginity, so if she had to give him her body...well it would at least be with someone who wasn't bandit scum. Besides, it wasn't like she could just run off after Sasuke-kun (yet) since he was under the Snake Sannin's watch twenty four seven.

Better she bide her time and find an opening to kidnap, er, run away with him and prove that she was his one true love when it was safe, rather than be gutted by the Snake Sannin.

Or worse.

"Ah, is that a scroll? Ooh, a jutsu scroll? That must mean you're a shinobi right, and probably a powerful one!" She said, and Naruto smiled. Karin eyebrows rose slightly as she gazed at the jutsu. Water Bullet? In a jinchuuriki's hands, it could be quite the devastating technique. Not bad, Karin thinks as she listens to Naruto.

"You better believe it! One day i'm going to be so strong, I'll be the Hokage!" Naruto said, happy to share his dream with the girl. She smiles back at him and bowed slightly. Hokage, Karin thinks, if anyone has the potential, it'd be him, though the villages have used jinchuuriki as weapons rather than leaders besides the Mizukage, it would be interesting to see if he'd actually make it. Though if he did, Hokage's wife wasn't a bad position, she thought.

"So mister bigshot, what's your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki. And yours?" He asked. Her ears perk up a bit at Uzumaki. While he didn't have the customary red hair, his chakra was indeed of an Uzumaki's vastness. Combined with the fact that it took a strong life force to be able to hold the Fox, she had no doubt that it was an actual Uzumaki. Maybe if things didn't run out right with Sasuke-kun, not that it would happen but she always had an alternative, she could use him to rebuild her clan…

"Karin. Just Karin." She hadn't wanted to tell him that they were related, no matter how distant, as he may find the distant, and technically be genetic standards not, incest to be too much for him to handle. Better he never knew that she was an Uzumaki until she was sure he wouldn't leave her.

Maybe she should get knocked up, she thought as Naruto continued on. He seemed like the honorable type, so she'd get his love and protection in one go. Of course, she'd have to explain to her beloved why she had a kid with another man, but she was sure that Sasuke-kun would be understanding.

And if not, well nothing a few seals couldn't fix…or well, if she knew those seals, she could fix it. Currently, she only had the bare fragments of Uzumaki lore, folk tales, and sealing on the scroll on her back, most of it far more minor than any slave seals they might have created.

"Well Karin, it's nice to meet someone in this village that isn't a civilian and doesn't look like they want to gut me." He said, eyeing the slight glint of steel inside her scientists' cloak. Karin smiled even though she curses in her mind. She hadn't wanted to be defenseless if someone managed to counter her techniques, so ditching her weaponry was out, so she decided to hide them inside her cloak and hope for the best. Apparently, she didn't hope enough. "So where do you hail from? I'm from Konoha."

"I'm from, well, here. Not this village of course, mine was destroyed by bandits." She said, grimacing slightly at the memories, but pushing them as far down as possible. She was weak then, but she knew better than to be like that now. "But I hail from Kusagakure. Or at least I used to, before a rich man bought my services. I was talented with sealing, and so I used my talents for his experiments. Unfortunately, our contract expired and I had to go looking for work again." She shrugs her shoulders. "Not exactly sad to leave if I'm being honest." Both were true, in a manner of speaking. Orochimaru was rich, and he had payed her a bit, even if it was far less than someone of her talents deserved, and she wasn't sad about the Frog Sannin ripping that place apart. The contract part though...well, it didn't matter now with no base to guard and the inhabitant's dead.

"Why not?" Naruto asked, "It sounds...decent. Sure, it isn't the most exciting, but it's stable. I'd have loved to do something like that if I didn't want to become a Kage." Karin's smile died down a little. If only he'd known the truth.

"Nah, he was kind of an ass. But enough about that, how about we team up. I'm a shinobi without work, and I'm not strong enough alone. With you by my side though, with your strength and my sealing knowledge, I'm sure we could be unbeatable." She said, and Naruto agreed. Her smile brightens slightly as he does so. Her protection would be guaranteed as long as he was with her. She'd never let him go.

"Sure Karin-chan. Me and you, we'll be the best team ever!" Karin smiled back, happy at the chan part since it seemed that he had thought of her as a friend, before she dug into her sushi. The two continued to munch down on their dinner, the town getting less and less crowded, and by the time they're finished it was nearly nine'o clock at night. The waiter walks up to them, a slightly annoyed expression on her face as she walks towards them.

"We're closing." She said, before slipping them the bill. Bitch, Karin thinks, as Naruto sheepishly smiled back before handing her the ryo, paying for both his and Karin's meal, before slipping out of the restaurant with Karin and heading towards the town's HELP WANTED board. Karin noticed as his eyes landed on the Bijuu cultist's, they widened. Karin snorts as she looks at the poster. Protection needed indeed. The freaks worshipped sentient catastrophes and thought people would like them? Only the desperate and the outcasts joined them, and most villages hated them due to their tendency to worship Jinchuuriki as messiahs, which rubbed most Hidden villages the wrong way considering that they hated the Bijuu's guts. Well that and the brutal human sacrifices, though Karin had heard they'd done away with that. Still, worshipping a Bijuu...nothing would rub that stain off your soul.

Still, if Naruto chose it, she'd follow him. If she made him happy, pleased him, he would protect her. And right now, that was all that mattered.

* * *

Ao was a confused little chameleon.

He had followed the boy.

He had watched him bloody himself on his first kill. A bit too clumsy for his tastes, but it was the kid's first.

Like it or not, he got the job done, and he could teach the kid the subtle art of assassination later. It was one of the few things he was competent at, especially considering his small size.

Growing up as small as he was compared to the other chameleons had made him have to specialize on what he knew, and while he wasn't as powerful as most of the other chameleons, he certainly knew his stuff…on the topics he did know.

He really hoped Naruto hadn't noticed that he taught him very little outside of perfecting his basics. A single Jutsu, while it was the useful tongue Jutsu, was still very much a beginner's technique for any chameleon. Besides that, he knew a couple Wind Jutsu at best, Air Bullet, Air Cutter, and Wind Edge Kunai.

Not much in comparison to the birds, who's mastery of the air and the skies had led them to shredding enemies with wind in their fights.

Then again, he had been a glorified messenger for Shiromari for years now, so it made sense that the pale prick had put him up to this job, probably thinking it funny. He thought Ao would fail at this task and end up as his lunch, but he underestimated the tiny blue chameleon's lust for survival.

Living at any costs was the name of the game, and the reptile planned to win.

Perhaps he would have to visit that crazy old Sage Kodai when he got back from stalking his protégé. It certainly wouldn't hurt to learn some tips and tricks from the sage and, worst case scenario, he would probably be treated to another drug ridden lunch that the old bastard ate.

His eyes twisted and turned as he was knocked out of his thoughts. He watched as the blonde Uzumaki, not that he could confirm he was an Uzumaki and even then he had his suspicions considering the boy's hair color, walking off with a girl who was CERTAINLY an Uzumaki.

"Interesting." He mumbled to himself as he cloaks himself once again, camouflaging himself to match the environment around himself. "Perhaps she can help draw out any fuinjutsu potential in the boy. That would certainly make myself look better in the clan's eyes, especially when I take all the credit for it." A Cheshire grin stretched across his face as he follows the two.

"Delightfully devilish Ao."

 **AN: I hope you like how I wrote Karin. She's shown a manipulative side in canon when she was with Ibiki, so I thought of her trying to use that to gain protection against Orochimaru.**


	7. Chapter 6: Cult

**Chapter 6**

The two waited on a bench near the board. Naruto had sent a shadow clone off to meet with the person who had wanted protection for the Kyuubi cult, and he shook slightly when it dispersed. Minutes later, they were approached by a woman a little over five feet, with dusky skin, ruby eyes, and dyed red hair.

"So, you two are the ones who are going to protect us?" The red-haired woman asked, her long, ragged and stitched up crimson kimono showing her status as a priestess of the Kyuubi cult. A few small bones with etchings on them laid on her waist, charms that they believed would bring them good luck. Naruto didn't know this though, trying to see how a, in his mind, woman was worshipping something as vile as the Kyuubi. Either way, he would reserve his judgement for the time being.

"Yep! Naruto Uzumaki and Karin-chan here to help out!" He said, "With us here, you won't have to worry about nothing!"

"I hope so Uzumaki-san. We aren't well liked around here...or well, anywhere really." She said as she turned, "A side effect of our earlier...practices. We've never really been able to overcome that stigma of live human sacrifice. However, we have no time to speak of such things. Come, the ritual will be starting in a couple of hours and it'll be a disaster if I'm not there. It's bad enough that we have to do this in secret and not in Fang Country since we were kicked out of there due to…circumstances, but to have to hire outsiders for protection…" The woman sighed, "It's just not normal, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Come, we'll be just on time if we start moving now."

The two followed her, and were quickly met with the sight of large tents, the traveling cult having brought everything with them. The full moon shined down on them, lending the place an eerie glow as they traveled further into the tent village, large wooden totems decorating the grounds with fox-like faces protruding out of them. Naruto glanced around noticing that everyone had red hair, most of them obviously dyed that way, along with small bones as charms matching the woman they had followed. Many wore torn clothes, while some wore far more expensive clothes, showing how the desperate from all walks of society came into these cults.

"Hey, Karin-chan...you noticed how everyone seems to have red hair? Isn't it a little weird?" He asked. Karin looked rather offended by the question, so he backtracked a little. "N-not you Karin, your hair makes you gorgeous, believe it! But i-isn't it still a little strange?"

Karin grinned as Naruto complimented her hair. It was something she both despised and loved. Despised, because people knew where she hailed from because of it and had used her for it, along with the scorn and mockery that came with being a foreigner. And loved, because it reminded her of the clan she hailed from and her mother and father, and now, due to Naruto's rather sweet compliment, finding someone who thought her red hair made her gorgeous. Still, it wasn't enough to deter her from her Sasuke-kun, but it was putting Naruto in a rather new light.

'Having him as my backup plan is looking more appealing. Plus, he's added the chan honorific to my name already. It must be something that he does to females, so perhaps I can use this to my advantage.' She pushed her glasses up slightly, the gleam concealing the menacing thoughts leaking out into her expression

"The Kyuubi sect, and well any bijuu sect, want to mimic their deity as much as possible. Hence the crimson hair and bone ornaments." She whispered to the blonde. "It's kind of disgusting really. Those bones can't be too clean unless they bathed them in chemicals or washed them thoroughly. It's just asking for some bacteria to fester." Naruto winced slightly, disturbed by the thought that anyone would want to worship that big ball of hatred, or even be like it.

"But...the Kyuubi?" Naruto asked, and Karin shrugged.

"They believe it to be a divine deity that watches over them. Protects them with its massive strength, as long as they worship it. Even if it's disgusting, I can see the appeal." Karin whispered back and Naruto nodded. When he was at his lowest back in Konoha, he would have done anything to know that there was someone watching over him, some plan in his life. He could sympathize with Neji slightly, because having all actions be some sort of big plan was sort of comforting in its own way. Unfortunately, that wasn't the reality, Naruto reminded himself, and he would have to make his own future.

"Hello, Head Priest Shiruba-sama." The woman they had followed said, bowing before an older man who wore crimson robes that had stitched lines running through them, obviously well worn. He bowed back, his eyes looking towards the two shinobi, his verdant orbs scanning them as he seemed to determine their worth, nodding at them before returning his attention to the priestess.

"I assume these are the shinobi who wanted to help us?" He asked and the woman nodded.

"Yes Shiruba-sama." She replied, before hugging the man. They stayed like that for a short while before the woman let go and the head priest continued speaking.

"It warms my heart to see you again Akajosei-san. It warms it even further to see that we won't be without protection this day." He said, looking at the two shinobi. "And you," He says, poking Naruto with is cane, "I can sense it too. I used to be a shinobi sensor of Kumo before I realized that they were caging our saviors. Unfortunately, I had to flee when I was caught trying to free the Nibi, but it has left me with a distinct sense of what a Bijuu's chakra is like." He said with a grimace, before his eyes light up. "I can feel the chakra of a Bijuu and...Naruto-san...you have been touched, haven't you?" He asked, a fire in his eyes as he stared at the blonde teen.

"Touched?" Naruto asked, feeling uncomfortable as Akajosei and Shiruba stare at him. Naruto wondered whether to lie or not, but he's always been terrible at lying. So there really is only one answer.

"Er, yes I have been touched." Naruto replied, and is ashamed by the glee he feels at seeing the surprise and happiness on the two cultists's faces. He had wanted attention and acceptance when he was younger...but not like this. Not for holding their "savior".

'Oh don't be so down about it Naruto. Perhaps if you tell them about what you contain, they might let that girl give you a pity fuck before they free me, their savior' The Kyuubi whispered into his mind, snickering at the last word.

"Glorious. The bijuu have certainly blessed us this day. Which one was it, the Ichibi, Gobi, Kyuubi?" Shiruba asked.

"Kyuubi." Naruto replied in a shaky voice. He looked around, seeing the jubilee in the cultist's eyes before he turned to the side, looking at his redheaded companion, expecting to see disgust on her face. Instead what he got was a small smile and a hug. It felt...nice, Naruto thought before Karin whispered in his ear.

"You're so brave and strong Naruto-kun, to be able to handle the chakra of the strongest of the Bijuu." She whispered into his ear, before pecking him on the cheek. He rubbed the spot, a small smile on his face, the joy from the kiss tempered with the shame of having lied about just how much the Kyuubi was in his life, letting the people believe that he'd simply been touched by it. He was too busy being happy that he got kissed by a pretty girl that he didn't notice the way Karin grinned at him, as if she was a cat that had caught herself a nice juicy rat.

'Kamis above, the way he's rubbing his cheek! I must be his first kiss,' The redhead smirked as Naruto tried to redirect his attention back onto the head cultist, 'Now, I'll need to cultivate this. I can't let any other girl give Naruto-ku, er I mean, Naruto, the same attention I give him. I'll make sure he only looks to me for the pleasures of the flesh and for a relationship, and I'll be his one and only Karin-chan, the only girl he can love. I am such a genius!'

"A shinobi touched by the Kyuubi and a natural redhead? Truly, this ritual shall be blessed! Akajosei, go grab the bull! I hesitate to wait any longer, not with our two guests with us!" He shouted. The priestess bowed before she run to the back of the nearby wooden shrine to grab the animal. Shiruba bowed, "I thank you both for arriving here, as you must certainly have the Kyuubi's blessings. Now, I know you must do your jobs, but I hope that after the sacrifice, you can join us in the feast." He bowed again before joining Akajosei. Naruto and Karin moved to the outer edges of the camp, Naruto using shadow clones to patrol where he couldn't, and simply waited as the Priest and Priestess got the ceremony ready.

"Karin?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"I...i'm not merely touched by the Kyuubi." Naruto forced out. He never really wanted to tell anyone, but with how she reacted, he figured that she might not hate him for it. "I contain it. The Kyuubi couldn't be killed by the Yondaime, so he sealed it in me." Karin's eyes widened slightly, though Naruto didn't notice how practiced the emotion looked.

"You know how I said that you were brave and strong earlier?" Karin asked, and Naruto nods, "Well, I think I was vastly understating it. The Kyuubi is on record as having the most corrosive chakra of the bunch, so for you to survive it is…fascinating." She replied. She took advantage of his emotionally vulnerable state and kissed him again, this time on the lips. Naruto's eyes widen in disbelief before he returned the kiss. It was awful in Karin's opinion, the redhead initially doing most of the work, but it is Naruto's first kiss on the lips. Well there was the one with Sasuke, but Naruto didn't like to think about that. Still, Naruto makes up for his little experience with passion, taking control of the kiss as his tongue slips into Karin's mouth. The two eventually break off the kiss, a small trail of saliva connecting the two as they both blush intensely, Naruto's face turning the same shade as Karin's hair.

Naruto gave Karin a goofy grin before a rather horrified expression came over his face. "Ah sorry about that. I shouldn't have been so forward. Crap, please don't beat the crap out of me!"

"Why would I do that?" Karin asked as she tilted her head.

"For being a pervert. You know, doing stuff like that. It's fine for a few kisses but stuff like that, crap, Sakura-chan would beat the crap out of me if she saw me doing something like that." He said, causing Karin's to perk up slightly.

'He seems quite scared of this Sakura-chan. A former lover perhaps? No, by the way he's acting it goes less like a jilted lover and more like a girl he has a crush on, who hates Naruto in particular since he seems so terrified of her. She must be trying to keep him from any other woman so that she can keep him to herself.' She smirked, 'Well tough luck you dumb bitch, you made him ripe for the picking.'

"Naruto-kun, wanting to kiss someone back isn't perverted. Now if you wanted to have intercourse with me, it'd only be appropriate after a five-course meal," The blonde's eyes nearly bugged out at that comment, Karin letting out a small chuckle, "but I am a far classier lady." A completely lie, but he didn't need to know that she would do anything to survive. "Still, it was simply a kiss. I like you. I think you're cute, strong, and a powerful shinobi." She said, playing with his ego. It wasn't like they were untrue either. He was cute, his whisker marks lending him a sort of foxy look and his blonde hair was yellow like the sun, he was rather muscular and obviously used to physical work, and he had enough chakra to make Kages envious, and having large and nice chakra like he did was her fetish.

It was part of the reason she liked Sasuke after all, as he had large chakra reserves, but even his was pitifully small compared to the blonde's. Though he did make up for it in the other areas, namely, being very good looking.

"You really think so?" Naruto asked.

"Of course, I do. But hey, why don't we get to know each other better, preferably at a nice restaurant. Make sure it's got Fried Pork Cutlet bowls on the menu too, it's the best stuff in the elemental nations. They got that, and we've got a date."

"A date? You mean like, that kind of date?" The blonde asked, a hint of eagerness in his voice. Years of being looked at as unattractive and undesirable (though he knew it was partially because of his poor diet) had let to a rather low self-image. His pink haired teammates had diminished it even further, but this new red head made him feel a lot better about his body than Sakura ever did.

"Yep. That kind of date." She replied, a hint of amusement in her voice. She would have continued to tease him about it, had they not been interrupted by a young female cultist.

"Hey, you two, the ceremony is starting! Get your butts up there and make sure nothing goes wrong!"

Naruto looked at Karin, who nodded, and they began their trek to the center of the tent village. A large platform had been raised up, by Earth Ninjutsu if the completely square shape was any indication, and upon it was Shiruba and Akajosei, a bull laying on its side on a pedestal. Naruto looked a bit nervous as people crowded around the stage, all of them eager to worship their deity, the bull struggling slightly in its binds. Shiruba raised his hands up, quieting the crowd. The full moon lended the man an eerie light, as he began to speak.

"We are here, everyone, to worship the Kyuubi. Bringer of Malice, Hatred, and Rage, but also the bringer of Pride, and Strength, both Physical and Mental. We honor it this day with a sacrifice of a pure bull." He said, motioning towards the brown bull, "Let the Kyuubi's might protect us from any that wish us harm and give strength to those who fight in his name." Shiruba said, glancing at Naruto, the boy avoiding the man's eyes in shame. Shiruba motions Akajosei to move forward, and she does, raising the knife as she before bringing it down, slitting the struggling bull's throat. It's blood flows, pouring into a large bowl, and soon, the animal succumbed to the blood loss. The bowl is passed around, the cultist's dipping their hands into it and making whisker marks on their cheeks. When the bowl is passed forward to Naruto, he looks at the bowl, a battle going on inside of himself on whether to do it and please the people around him, or throw it and run. In the end, he chooses to rub the blood onto his whisker marks, with Karin rubbing blood onto her face as well, even if she is disgusted to do so.

'Ooh, the smell of blood...my cultists surely do know what I like~' The Kyuubi whispered out in his mind. Naruto closes his eyes as he pushes down the self-disgust he feels, before his eyes slammed open as he feels one of his shadow clones disperse.

"Now that everyone is exalted in its name, let us go and feast. Everyone head towards the tent in the back, and, as always, praise the Kyuubi." The cultists headed towards the tent, leaving Shiruba alone with the two. "So, what brings the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and an Uzumaki here?"


	8. Chapter 7: Feast

**Chapter 7**

 **AN: I CHANGED THE ENDING OF CHAPTER 6! PLEASE REREAD THAT PART OR ELSE YOU'LL BE LOST!**

"Now that everyone is exalted in its name, let us go and feast. Everyone headed towards the tent in the back, and, as always, praise the Kyuubi." The cultists headed towards the tent, leaving Shiruba alone with the two. "So, what brings the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and an Uzumaki here?"

"Were you referring to him twice or me? Because if you're asking about me I can tell you right now I'm not-" Karin started to say before the dusky skinned man interrupted her.

"Listen girl, while I do believe having a natural red head like you here is a blessing, I'm not one for games. I'm a sensor, and even if you didn't have that red hair or fair skin, I'd recognize the feeling of that thick and massive chakra anywhere. You're an Uzumaki all right, never thought I'd find another one besides that crazy nut from Konoha." He said, pulling the sleeves of his robe back to reveal well-muscled arms, his right covered in nasty scars. "Tore the hell out of my arm that woman did."

"Uzumaki? As in a clan? I have a clan?" Naruto asked out loud, his mind slowly going through the possibilities. If he had a clan, and Karin was also a part of it, then that meant he finally had family! "Do you know anything about this Karin-chan?"

Karin held back a scream of frustration as she was forced to answer the question. Lying would be pointless since she damn near admitted that she knew about what he was asking when she denied it, and he seemed so excited about it, it would probably make him distrust her if she bluffed. "Yeah, the scroll on my back contains as much lore and sealing techniques as I could scrounge up, especially after they were destroyed by Kumo and Kiri during the Second Shinobi World War." She glared at the man, hoping that it would send Naruto's attention back towards him instead of her.

Unfortunately, she didn't account for how little Naruto really cared for history, especially when he now knew that he had a clan along with someone who had knowledge on it!

"Wait, you knew about it this whole time…and didn't tell me about it?" He said, starting to get a little angry at the redhead for withholding this from him.

"Well you said your name was Naruto Uzumaki, but you didn't have the customary red hair or fair skin. I just figured it was a way for Konoha to honor the alliance they had with Uzushiogakure before the fall." She shrugged. It was of course a lie, but it was mired in fact since to any ordinary person, he looked the furthest thing from an Uzumaki. A Kumo native, maybe, even if his skin wasn't dark enough, or a Senju, but certainly not an Uzumaki.

"Oh, yeah I can see where you're comin' from there." He said, rubbing the back of his head. "Still, it's nice to know that I've finally got some family around." Karin tried to hide her disappointment. If he thought of her as family instead of a possible romantic partner, then there would be no way to entice him into loving her as anything more than a sister or cousin at best. "Hey," He turned his head back towards the older man. "You mentioned an Uzumaki from Konoha."

"Ah, yes. Kushina Uzumaki, an A-Rank Jounin, born in Uzushio and later moved to Konoha. Quite the nasty thing, especially with those seals and swords of hers. I have the proof," He motioned towards his right arm. "Barely survived that little scuffle too, but it did make me particularly religious to be the only one of my squad to survive. Once I found out that she was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, I felt like it must have been the Nine Tailed Fox that ordered her to spare my life, hence I've devoted my life to it."

"Do you think she was my mom?" Naruto asked. He now knew he had some sort of family, a clan even, but what had always run through the orphan's mind were his parents. Had they been someone from the red-light district, a prostitute who abandoned him? A random shinobi family's child? Maybe even the son of a Hokage? This had haunted him for years, and so when he had the chance to learn about them, he took it with both hands.

"Probably. Only an Uzumaki or a Senju had strong enough bodies to handle the full brunt of the Kyuubi's chakra, so you're either her kid, a secret coupling with an Uzumaki or a Senju, or Tsunade's and I doubt that woman will let anyone near that area of her body to actually make a baby. A damn shame with how big her," He made a grabbing motion with his hands "melons are." He said, laughing as the boy's face scrunched up. "I take it you know her?"

"Yeah, she's my Hokage. She wears an illusion, so I bet she's all old and wrinkly under it. I don't know anyone who'd want to do…that…with her." He tilted his head slightly. "Well besides Pervy-sensei, but then again, I'm sure he'd bang anything with two legs and a pair of boobs."

"You'd be surprised. Frankly, even with the illusion off, I'd probably still make the attempt. I'm old now, so if my last dying actions were to get some of that, even if I got splattered across a wall, it'd be worth it. " The man said with a wry grin.

"Can we change the subject please? I don't want to hear about a perverted old man wanting to bang one of the kunoichi I idolize." Karin said, causing the man to let out a snort.

"It isn't only men that want her. I've known plenty of women who would kill to have a chance with-"

"PLEASE."

"Okay, okay. So, what else would you like to know?" Shiruba asked.

"You mentioned Uzushio. Where is that?"

"Ah, the old Uzumaki homeland is out by Wave Country. You could probably hire one of the nearby sailors or fishermen to take you there, but they'll need a nice bit of Ryo to do that. Those whirlpools are nasty, and I've heard stories from some of the older shinobi about how they sucked in and drowned their comrades when they invaded. Scary stuff." Naruto made a mental note to check that place out as soon as possible. Maybe he'd even find something about his heritage. Karin was also looking forward to checking it out since she had never gotten the chance to, not with her parents murdered and Orochimaru keeping her as his own personal tracking and healing pet Uzumaki. "But enough about a history lesson, why don't you come join us for the feast?"

"Ah, it would be a bit rude to intrude." Karin said, not trusting these people for a second. She didn't want to drink something then wake up to be sacrificed by these wierdos. Or maybe they'd just eat her or something, she truly didn't know what these cultists did nowadays, only their rather sordid past of human sacrifice to appease their "god".

"Are you kidding Karin-chan? It's free food!" Naruto yelled out. He'd been eating bugs for his training with Ao, and only had a bit of human food once he got back to the Shinobi world. There was no way in the Impure land that he was going to pass up any chance to eat some delicious food. The older man let out a laugh at the blonde's enthusiasm.

"As long as you're keeping those shadow clones up, we should be fine." He motioned for the two to follow him, the Uzumaki duo proceeding to do just that. "So, you both seem kind of new to the shinobi life. Judging by your ages, I'm guessing your either genin or chunin."

"Genin." The blonde replied.

"Ge-I mean I'm not a shinobi. Only trained in the arts." She cursed internally as she noticed the two giving her a look that showed they didn't believe her. "Mostly medical." It was true, but even Naruto didn't look completely convinced at that. She would have to be careful what she showed from this point on.

"Uh-huh." Shiruba looked at her with doubt in his eyes. "Anyway, if you need help with your affinities, you can let me know. I can tell by the feel of your chakra that you're certainly a wind user," He stated as he glanced at the blonde, "and the redhead is a water user, a typical Uzumaki."

"So you're saying you could help us with training?" Naruto asked, excitement in his eyes. Ao-san had helped him master his basics and current techniques, and even taught him the tongue jutsu, but Naruto was more excited to get to the good stuff. Wind techniques that could blow down trees, maybe even the ability to fly. All these and more ran through the blonde's mind.

"Since you're protecting us, it would be a bit stupid not to. The stronger you are, the more protected we are." Shiruba said as he opened the tent flap, allowing them in. "I'm a wind user too, so tell you what. After our feast, why don't we get some training in. I can even teach you my special breathing techniques." Naruto's eyes lit up at the thought of some new jutsu. "But let's keep that enthusiasm contained for now. We've got Nine days of celebration ahead of us."

"Nine days?! The sign only said we had to protect you for the festival!" Karin exclaimed, wanting to get away from this man as quickly as possible lest she be forced to reveal even more information about her heritage. She was going to have to try and persuade the blonde that if he were to enter a relationship with her it wouldn't be incest, which was true since she was from a different branch of the clan and even if she was from the same, chakra had the miraculous ability to prevent bad mutations, and that would be awful since he seemed to be rather thick headed.

'Or…' She smiled internally, keeping her face blank. 'I can use this to my advantage. Unless he finds another Uzumaki woman around, I'll be the only one he could revive his clan with. And considering there are so few…yes, I can work with this.'

"Yeah, a Nine-day long festival to celebrate the Nine Tailed Fox. We've been saving up quite a bit of food for this, and would be happy to provide some for you." He smiled. "Plus, I'd like to pass my techniques onto someone, and Naruto-san seems quite eager to learn. Akajosei-san has trouble trusting in father figures after her father did…things to her, and so she isn't very comfortable learning with me, preferring to train alone. But with Naruto-san, I can finally pass my own breathing techniques on."

"Thanks old man." Naruto said, causing the man to raise an eyebrow.

"Old man? Is that any way to talk to your host?" He said, releasing some killing intent, the blonde not even noticing since he had been exposed to the killing intent of a tailed beast.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way. You're kind of like the Sandaime, and old leader that is strong, so I'm calling you old man in a respectful way, believe it!"

A small smile spread across Shiruba's face. "Well then, I'll take it as a compliment. Besides, it just means this old man will have to train you even harder to knock some respect into you." He said with a grin, Naruto smiling back up at him.

"Now let's enjoy the feast!"


	9. Chapter 8: Hamon

**Chapter 8**

"Whew that was good." Naruto said, as he sat in front of Shiruba, outside the tent, the boy wiping the side of his face with a napkin. "Forty different types of ramen, now that's a feast I can get into."

Karin was also rather pleased. She was not one to turn down free food, and they had even had pork buns, her favorite. Still, she wanted to get out of this camp as fast as possible since it seemed that the leader was a loud mouth who couldn't keep his lips shut before spouting off things she'd rather keep secret.

"Now, that you're all filled up, we can get started. Wouldn't want to start training on an empty stomach after all." Shiruba stood up. He extended his pinky finger, before ramming it into Naruto's chest, the boy letting out a gasp as all the air left his body.

"Hey, the hell you doing?!" Chains extended out of her back and wrapped around the man's arm. "You can't just go attacking my man like that!"

Shiruba gave her a wry smile. "You're man? Is this young love I'm witnessing right now?" Naruto would have blushed under both Karin's statement and the older man's insinuation if he wasn't too busy wheezing on the ground. "But fret not, young Uzumaki maiden, I've merely forced all the air out of your friends' body so we can began training in my art."

"Huh," Karin's eyes widened as Naruto stood up looking completely fine. "I feel really good after that Gramps." She could hear some of his bones crack. "Hey, there goes the crack in my ankle! I don't know what you did to me, but I feel awesome, believe it!"

"That would be my ancient art of Hamon you're feeling! I told you I would teach you my breathing techniques, but first I had to introduce you to the feeling of it!" The dark skinned man said with a smile, "I can even teach it to your friend as well!" He extended his pinky once again.

"Wait, nonononono!" Karin wheezed as he hit her in the chest with his pinky, all the air leaving her body. She let out a small cry as she slowly stood up, her crimson eyes glaring at the older man. "I…hate…you…sooo…much."

"And you'll hate me even more by the time this is over! Hamon is an intensive art that requires perfect breathing control due to it depending on the amount of oxygen and chakra in that oxygen, that your blood can hold! For a wind user like you, this is the perfect technique to amplify your physical strength," he pointed towards Karin, "and the same goes for you. You seem a bit on the scrawny side for a kunoichi." Her glare at the man intensified.

"If it's so good, why haven't I ever heard about it before?" Karin asked with doubt in her voice. She was sure this would be something Orochimaru would have went after if it was as versatile as he claimed.

"Because, much like sealing, it is an intensive art that takes years of practice…or at least, it did before I managed to master the art. While you certainly won't be able to master it in nine days, I believe that I can get you competent in it's usage by the time we're through." He gave them a smile that promised pain, Karin gulping as she wondered if she could run away without being hunted down by the Snake Sannin.

The days went by and the training grew more and more intense.

"There we go, you're a natural at this!" Shiruba said as Naruto wheezed out from under his mask, the breathing apparatus blocking off oxygen to help force him to regulate his breathing. "The Kyuubi surely sought to bless me with two good disciples like you! Though, your little girlfriend seems to be struggling." He pointed towards Karin, the girl having tried to do some jogging only to get winded quite quickly due to the mask.

Naruto blushes at the insinuation before he breathes in once again, a yellow energy sparking across his hands and punches a stone, leaving a small crater in it. The blonde smiled as he finally managed to break the rock. It had taken a while to get the breathing part down pat, but after finally getting it, he felt amazing. Not to mention, this man was actually a good sensei. Unlike Kakashi and Jiraiya who screwed around, he was all business. Kind of like Ao, but without the sleeziness that he could sense coming off the chameleon.

People thought he was stupid, but after being alone in Konoha for so long and treated like the plague, he had become rather good at judging people's character. And while he knew the Chameleon's were in a bad state right now, he didn't think he could trust Ao very much outside of training. He seemed to be the type that would save his own skin at the cost of everything else, and that rubbed Naruto the wrong way.

"Not denying it?" The older man asked with a smirk. "Ah, to be young and in love again. I used to be quite the player in Kumo, you know? I can give you a few tips if you like."

Naruto stilled for a moment, before he nodded. While Karin was technically related to him, he didn't really have anyone else who he was attracted to besides Sakura, and she was slowly being driven out of his mind by the redhead. Karin didn't degrade him, didn't punch him, didn't bring him down every time he tried to do something for himself and getting compared to Sasuke. It felt nice having someone who actually believed he wasn't just an idiot or would never accomplish his dream.

Sure, he knew something was off about the girl due to her slip up earlier about being a genin, but he could see why she did it. After Zabuza and Haku, his eyes had been opened up to the evils of the shinobi world, and he knew that there were missing-nin just like those two everywhere. Her odd behavior was probably just her being homesick, or maybe she was even like him and just didn't want to be alone.

Either way, he'd rather be optimistic about the situation he was in and believe her, rather than get hunkered down on what-if's and maybes.

The rest of the time there went by quickly, Naruto managing to control his breathing and strikes enough to create plate sized craters with his fists, and Karin managing to use the breathing techniques in her own way to enhance herself.

Eventually thought, the festival ended and they departed.

They didn't notice as one of the cultists removed their wig, revealing grey hair underneath. He pulled a portable radio out of his pocket and tuned it to the channel his master told him to. "Orochimaru-sama, they've left the camp and are all alone and heading towards Wave Country. Would you like me to grab them? No? You want them yourself? Okay, I'll try and tail them, but I'll have to be careful of the girl's sensing techniques. Ok, Kabuto out."

* * *

Ao couldn't help himself as he watched the two Uzumaki leave the small tents.

He should've predicted that the blonde forgot to contact him (or was it him that was supposed to contact the blonde?), but he had witnessed the boy's training and while not from him, he could certainly tell Shiromari-sama that he had helped the boy develop it.

However, unlike the two, he had noticed the grey haired man and had taken steps to counteract whatever plan he had. Not out of any genuine altruism, but rather to save his own skin. If Naruto died, he was completely screwed.

And so, after a day or two of following the two (and a quick nap), he had finally went to confront them.

Only to find the scent of snakes everywhere and the two nowhere to be found.

"Crap."


End file.
